Skip to Content

New to the Mac? Check out TUAW's Mac 101
AOL Games

Filed under: Previews

NCsoft reveals Beluslan in a video tour

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Video, Aion, Previews, News items


There might be another week until the next stage of the Aion beta but NCsoft are ramping up the excitement surrounding their next big MMO. Today they released a video showcasing yet another part of the rich world of Atreia. Profiling the Asmodian zone of Beluslan, the short video offers an eagle's eye view of what we can expect when the game goes on sale in September.

Join us after the jump for NCsoft's take on the zone as well as the video itself.

Blizzard gives preview of the Isle of Conquest battleground

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Patches, Previews, PvP


Blizzard community manager Nethaera has announced some more details of the new battleground coming to World of Warcraft with Patch 3.2, Call of the Crusade.The "Isle of Conquest" will be a new place for Horde and Alliance to face off in forty-vs.-forty PvP across different locations offering their own unique challenges and rewards.

Blizzard has put together a preview site for the Isle of Conquest explaining about the battleground and its objectives and resources that the Horde and Alliance will struggle over. Each location will have a certain advantage, ranging from Glaive Throwers and Catapults to an airship that allows players to parachute into the enemy keep. Have a look at the Isle of Conquest preview site for more on what to expect from Call of the Crusade's battleground.
One of Azeroth's millions of citizens? Check out our ongoing coverage of the World of Warcraft, and be sure to touch base with our sister site WoW Insider for all your Lich King needs!

E3 2009: A look at APB's extensive character customization

Filed under: New titles, Previews, All Points Bulletin, Crime, Massively Event Coverage


There's been a lot of speculation about All Points Bulletin, the upcoming game from Crackdown developer Realtime Worlds, but at a closed-door demonstration at E3, we were finally able to take a good look at the game with lead designer EJ Moreland. And while many MMOs have detailed character customization, we've never seen anything quite like this.

During the video presentation of the game, Moreland said that the developers were focused on "the three C's" -- creativity, conflict and celebrity. The heart of APB is giving players the maximum flexibility to create what they want. Using the same customization tool that the developers use to make the thousands of NPCs in the game, players can modify their characters in a myriad of ways.

Gallery: E3 2009: APB

E3 2009: The Agency in-game footage

Filed under: Video, Events, real-world, MMO industry, New titles, Previews, The Agency, News items, Massively meta, Spy, Massively Interviews


As part of our extensive E3 tour through SOE's newest games, launched and upcoming, we got a fairly good look at some gameplay footage in The Agency. Of course, you know The Agency as the spy MMO that had everyone talking at last year's E3. With this new gameplay footage, you lucky readers (or, viewers) get to see what to expect when the game launches.

Click through after the jump to see the game's lead producer, Lorien Gremore, show us around a bit with combat, stealth, minigames and even a bit of female persuasion tactics*.

* Not from Lorien


Massively is on the ground in Los Angeles this week and covering all the latest E3 MMO news coming from the convention. Check out our breaking coverage (or all the Joystiq network E3 reporting) and keep your eye on Massively's front page for the latest developments.

New Tauren druid kitty forms revealed

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Patches, Previews, News items


We mentioned last week that new bear forms for Tauren and Night Elf druids were rocking the World of Warcraft. Well now Blizzard have revealed the new Tauren kitty forms with the updated Night Elf forms following later in the week. The somewhat naff and ugly lionesque melee form finally gets a makeover, becoming more realistic and doubtless millions of Tauren druids are crapping their pants right now

Our sister site WoW.com have been discussing the new forms and the consensus seems to be positive but, lets be honest, anything is better than the old cat form. At least these new skins look realistic, even if the horns remain seriously pointy. Remember these forms will hit in the upcoming patch 3.2 (also known as Call of the Crusade) and you'll be able to switch skin tones by visiting your friendly barber in any one of the capital cities. We'll bring you more on the Night Elf forms as soon as they are revealed.

LotRO dev tour: Massively's look at Book 8

Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Screenshots, Lord of the Rings Online, Game mechanics, Patches, Previews, News items, Hands-on


Once again, Turbine has been kind enough to offer us a sneak peek look at the newest Book update to Lord of the Rings Online. This newest one, Volume 2, Book 8, introduces two new 3-man instances, a 6-man space and their largest instance to date: an enormous 12-man instance with six bosses! In addition, there's a revamp of quests in the 15-25 level range, many crafting system improvements and the Summer Festival, complete with new events and a different way to win the festival horse.

This dev tour was given by Aaron "Rowan" Campbell, Live Producer for LotRO and Adam Mersky, Turbine's Director of Communications. It focused mainly on the new instances, as we were shown the highlights of each space, including the incredibly difficult bosses at the end. Follow along in our 26-image gallery below for more on what we saw in Book 8.

A look at crafting updates in EQII's Game Update 52

Filed under: Fantasy, EverQuest II, Patches, Previews, Crafting


It's not just new dungeons and adventuring quests that will be hitting EverQuest II in the next big patch, Game Update 52; there'll be plenty for those with a crafting bent as well. Niami Denmother of EQ2 Traders Corner had an early look at some of what will be available and has shared her impressions with the community. We already found out that the player-written books in GU52 will come from crafters, and Niami's preview includes screenshots of a variety of different bindings that can be made (by Sages level 50+, by the way).

There will also be some revamping of crafted hex dolls and ranged items, and the new stats should please most. Existing hex-dolls will be upgraded to the new stats upon logging in after GU52's release, but the ranged items will not, just in case some people like the stat distribution of their current gear. The last thing we get to see in Niami's sneak peek is a screenshot of some player-crafted furniture. SOE was quick to mention that this is not all the new furniture that GU52 holds, but the preview should be enough to get people to dust off their crafting equipment ahead of time. Make sure to check out the screenshots of the other goodies that will be available.

The Flash speeds into DCUO

Filed under: Super-hero, New titles, Previews, News items, DC Universe Online


Maybe it's just the resident comic book nerds here at Massively, but as soon as we saw Geoff Johns announced as part of the team involved with writing the story for DC Universe Online, we just knew The Flash had to show up. Sure, it makes sense to have him in there since he's a major part of the DC license. He's also the perfect choice to show off super-speed as a travel power, too. But Geoff's work on the Flash storyline was absolutely awesome, thus having him in the game is something we're pretty psyched to hear confirmation of.

SOE explained his spot in the game a bit further in the press release noting that we'll be dealing with the Wally West incarnation of the Flash, who "easily runs at light speed, vibrates through objects, create explosions through friction - and, when at agonizing top capacity, can manipulate time and bridge dimensions." We just wonder if a high-level speedster will be able to manipulate time and bridge dimensions too. Can you imagine how cool that would be? For now, enjoy some concept art for this newest addition to the DCUO cast!

New EQII zone Kurn's Tower: Breaching the Void preview

Filed under: Fantasy, EverQuest II, Patches, Previews


We heard last week that there are going to be a few new zones in EverQuest II's Game Update 52, and now the EQ2 Players community site has a preview of one of them for us to wrap our eyeballs around. The zone in question is Kurn's Tower: Breaching the Void. It's one of the two single-group instances from GU52 and not the x2 raid instance (although the raid instance is also part of Kurn's Tower). In terms of how difficult Breaching the Void will be, the preview tells us that "adventurers who can tackle Miragul's Phylactery: The Crucible should find that Kurn's Tower: Breaching the Void is a good test of their skill."

So what's actually inside?
"There are three levels that will need to be conquered and along the way, there will be puppet strings to be cut as well as some other pitfalls. Be sure to bring your parachutes! This is just the beginning of a monumental story, so expect a twist at the end of this dungeon that will lead you onwards and upwards." It sounds like groups will need to work with the Burynai to progress through the dungeon too. There are a few screenshots of the instance available for viewing at the EQ2 Players preview page.

New race and a housing system are unveiled for the next expansion of Fly for Fun

Filed under: Fantasy, Flyff, Previews, Free-to-play


Fly For Fun, of Flyff as it's also known, is a manga styled game which bills itself as "the first free-to-play MMORPG to offer players the opportunity to fly around the world of Madrigal using magic brooms, bikes or skateboards" and has a new expansion arriving soon called "Act IV: New Shores". gPotato have unveiled two of the new features in this expansion, the Rainbow Race and the housing system.

The Rainbow Race will allow players to, once a week, sign up to the race and show off their flying skills while competing in various mini-games at each checkpoint in order to complete the race. Rewards from this race range from temporary buffs, gPotato cash shop items or precious Orichalques and Lunar Stones. Also being added is player housing, which will allow players to create a customized environment in which to socialize. Player housing will be available to all players of all levels for free.

Star Trek Online preview looks at ship battles and exploration

Filed under: Sci-fi, Game mechanics, Previews, Star Trek Online


There are few science fiction properties in existence that command the fan devotion that Star Trek does. Cryptic Studios is hoping to tap that huge fanbase with Star Trek Online, one of their massively multiplayer online games in development. Gamespot writer Andrew Park recently got a hands-on with STO that sheds some more light on the title. Park explains where Star Trek Online is set in terms of the IP's extensive timeline (the year 2409) and the political backdrop (The United Federation of Planets/Khitomer Accords). Much of his preview of STO focuses on three main aspects of gameplay -- ship battles; exploration; and away teams -- but Park also imparts some details about race customizations and the importance of preparation (advance recon, crew choices, weapon and shield decisions) in succeeding as a starship captain.

If you're interested in hearing more about the upcoming title, you'll want to check out Andrew Park's "Star Trek Online Exclusive Impressions: Ship Battles, Exploration, and Away Teams" at Gamespot.

Jumpgate Evolution preview looks at PvE combat basics as well as PvP

Filed under: Sci-fi, Jumpgate Evolution, Previews, PvP, PvE


Jumpgate Evolution is a title that some of us on the Massively staff are excited about, particularly since its (expected) June release date is right around the corner. But why does this game interest us? Simply stated, it will inject aggressive manual control and 'dogfighting' style combat into the space MMO genre, something we think a number of gamers out there will appreciate. We've taken a look at Jumpgate Evolution at some of the major gaming events in the past and spoken with NetDevil quite a bit about the title, but as that release date creeps closer there's always more info coming out.

Case in point: NowGamer received an invitation to a press event at the Codemasters HQ in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, where they were given a hands-on with Jumpgate Evolution. This gave Ben Biggs from NowGamer the opportunity to put Jumpgate Evolution through its paces and write about how it turned out.

New movie shows a grisly future for MMOs

Filed under: Sci-fi, Trailers, Previews, Virtual worlds


Kotaku are reporting that the trailer for a new game related movie have been released. Simply called Gamer, which is a change from it's original name of Game. It stars Gerard Butler, whose film credits range from a high of starring in 300, through the cult favorite Reign of Fire, and down to the less impressive films such as the title role in Dracula 2000. It is set in a future where a millionaire Ken Castle (Michael C. Hall of Dexter fame) has created a massively popular multi-player online game called Slayers in which hundreds of people battle. The twist is that the players are actually controlling death row inmates, and not just characters in the game as they think. Butler stars as the hero who is caught between Castle and the resistance who are trying to take down the game all while being controlled by his wealthy player. This film looks like it could be considered a remake of Running Man for computer game generation.

Gamer is currently scheduled for release on September 4th this year in the US and UK with a staged release across Europe throughout that month. According to some pre-release screenings the film may not be destined to become one of the stand out hits of the year.

Check after the break for the English language trailer.

DC Universe Online preview covers the basics

Filed under: Super-hero, New titles, Previews, News items, DC Universe Online


This new preview of DC Universe Online over at Kotaku doesn't really have any new information in it for people who've been keeping up on the game. However, it does at least put it all in once place, which makes it a useful article to give to anyone not in the know about SOE's upcoming superhero MMO.

One specific thing the article mentions is that aside from the big superstars of the DC Universe, there's not a whole lot differentiating the game from City of Heroes. We'd like to point out that from what we've seen and experienced with the game, that isn't entirely true. Combat is quite a lot different than NCsoft's original guys-in-capes offering. If anything, a closer comparison would be to Cryptic's upcoming Champions Online, which seems to sit somewhere between City of Heroes and DC Universe Online, overall.

Then again, we really can't make that kind of call until all the games are out to play. But by this time next year, that should likely be the case.

Games Day '09: An overview of the Land of the Dead

Filed under: Fantasy, Expansions, New titles, Patches, Previews, PvP, Warhammer Online, PvE, Massively Event Coverage


You've heard us talk about it, you've heard us discuss it, and it's now time for us to tell you exactly what it's all about. Land of the Dead is not your father's MMO dungeon -- it's a dungeon that is something more than just a dungeon. It's an entire zone filled with activities and sub-dungeons, all culminating in an epic instanced dungeon that features a face off with the first leader of the Tomb Kings himself, King Amenemhetum. (Try saying that five times fast. Heck, try saying that one time fast. Not even Gabe Amatangelo, one of the chief designers, can say that name properly. He got close to it though during his Games Day presentation.)

So how do you get down to test wits with the Tomb Kings? What public quests and objectives are scattered throughout the zone? What changes and improvements are coming with this addition to the game? Read on warriors, and find out!

Massively Features


Featured Games

Events Calendar

NameDate
Fallen Earth Launch Q2 2009
Global Agenda Closed Beta July 2009
CrimeCraft Launch Aug 25 2009
Champions Online Launch Sep 1 2009
Cities XL EU Launch Sep 3 2009
Aion Launch Sep 22 2009
Earth Eternal Open Beta Q3 2009

Massively Podcast


New episodes every Wednesday. Now playing:
Episode 59, for Wednesday, July 1st, 2009.



Archive | RSS | iTunes | Zune

Featured Galleries

One Shots
Hands on with Cities XL
Earthrise wallpapers
Runes of Magic: The Weeping Coast
Aion Beta: Asmodian Ascension Quest
Aion Beta: Asmodae
Aion Beta: Crafting your Asmodian
Runes of Magic: The Elven Prophecy
GamerDNA: A brief look at free to play games